Vanity Fair Goes Inside The Split Of Frank And Jamie McCourt

The relationship between JAMIE and FRANK MCCOURT is featured in August's VANITY FAIR under the header, “A Major-League Divorce,” with Vanessa Grigoriadis writing that L.A. “was initially welcoming” of the new Dodgers owners, “as it is of anyone with money, but when it became clear that they were using one of the city’s biggest franchises ... to pay their personal expenses, among other shenanigans, the ire in the normally placid city exploded.” The piece details the couple’s personal and financial history as well as their ownership of the team and their divorce proceedings. The McCourts “enjoyed the instant celebrity that came with owning the team, and hired a cadre of spin doctors to burnish their image.” Jamie “made plans to write a memoir, entitled 'Screaming Meanie: Babes, Baseball and Business.'” On living in L.A., she said it is a place where you’re judged by “where you’re going, not where you’ve been. ... There isn’t a thing I don’t love about L.A. I’m never moving from L.A. Ev-ver.”

ROLE OF STEINBERG: In the team’s offices, Jamie’s main ally was CHARLES STEINBERG, who was “close" to MLB Commissioner BUD SELIG. Steinberg told Jamie “she should get involved in politics,” and in a memo titled “Project Jamie: Tikun Olam Plan,” he told her that she should establish some goals, including “fix the world,” “fix America,” and “be President.” He suggested that she found a “Dodgers University” to advance those goals.

WHERE THEY ARE NOW: Grigoriadis writes that Jamie “has tried to rehabilitate her image,” and has “put on exclusive wine dinners for 12 friends several times a month.” Meanwhile, Frank has “continued to slip in everyone’s estimation.” While Jamie has received calls “from investors interested in partnering with her to buy the team” from Frank, “she knew that the fans didn’t want her as the face of the Dodgers anymore,” but she could be a silent partner. However, sources said that “time and again ... investors disappeared because Frank wouldn’t produce any financial information about the team.” Frank reportedly "refused even to tell Jamie exactly how much he thought the Dodgers were worth.” Her lawyer DAVID BOIES: “We were saying that the Dodgers were worth more than a billion dollars, and Frank once took the position that they were only worth a few hundred million dollars, and after the debt was subtracted, they might only be worth $1 or $2 million” (VANITY FAIR, 8/ '11 issue).